KenH
Well-Known Member
“Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.” (Psalm 32:1-2)
The apostle Paul and the psalmist David speak of a “blessed man.” A man blessed of God. The individual who is blessed of God is the one to whom “God imputeth righteousness without works” (Romans 4:6). It is the one to whom the “Lord will not impute sin.” (Romans 4:8). What a great work of God’s grace it is when we are made to know the reality of imputation! It is the only means by which our sin is ever really removed from us and the only means by which we are ever righteous. Those who do not know the truth of it or do not desire to understand it are those who seek to establish righteousness of their own before God. Without imputation there is only condemnation! Imputation involves a real transfer of sin (the full penalty of it) to another upon which the one to whom it is transferred assumes the full responsibility of it. Their Surety. All the sins of God’s elect were imputed to Christ. He in His death assumed the full responsibility and therefore suffered the full penalty of it. That is what He did in His substitutionary death on the cross. The sinless One is “made sin for us” and dies in our place. His righteousness is imputed to us and we are “made the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Paul tells us that God justified Abraham and he was counted a righteous man by God. How did this sinner Abraham become such before God? He believed God’s promise to provide a perfect righteousness for him from One outside of himself. That One is Christ! But then Paul records the good news. “Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification” (Romans 4:22-25). So great and real was the transfer of my sin to Christ and the transfer of His righteousness to me that I can rest, rejoice and look forward to meeting Him as my righteous Judge. My sin is gone (He put it away) and my righteousness is perfect (It is His righteousness). I know this because God has declared it in His word and revealed it by His Spirit through the Gospel. It is His promise and by God-given faith I believe it! Amen!
- Gary Shepard, pastor of Sovereign Grace Baptist Church in Cherokee, North Carolina
From the August 10 bulletin of Eager Avenue Grace Church, Albany, Georgia.
The apostle Paul and the psalmist David speak of a “blessed man.” A man blessed of God. The individual who is blessed of God is the one to whom “God imputeth righteousness without works” (Romans 4:6). It is the one to whom the “Lord will not impute sin.” (Romans 4:8). What a great work of God’s grace it is when we are made to know the reality of imputation! It is the only means by which our sin is ever really removed from us and the only means by which we are ever righteous. Those who do not know the truth of it or do not desire to understand it are those who seek to establish righteousness of their own before God. Without imputation there is only condemnation! Imputation involves a real transfer of sin (the full penalty of it) to another upon which the one to whom it is transferred assumes the full responsibility of it. Their Surety. All the sins of God’s elect were imputed to Christ. He in His death assumed the full responsibility and therefore suffered the full penalty of it. That is what He did in His substitutionary death on the cross. The sinless One is “made sin for us” and dies in our place. His righteousness is imputed to us and we are “made the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Paul tells us that God justified Abraham and he was counted a righteous man by God. How did this sinner Abraham become such before God? He believed God’s promise to provide a perfect righteousness for him from One outside of himself. That One is Christ! But then Paul records the good news. “Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification” (Romans 4:22-25). So great and real was the transfer of my sin to Christ and the transfer of His righteousness to me that I can rest, rejoice and look forward to meeting Him as my righteous Judge. My sin is gone (He put it away) and my righteousness is perfect (It is His righteousness). I know this because God has declared it in His word and revealed it by His Spirit through the Gospel. It is His promise and by God-given faith I believe it! Amen!
- Gary Shepard, pastor of Sovereign Grace Baptist Church in Cherokee, North Carolina
From the August 10 bulletin of Eager Avenue Grace Church, Albany, Georgia.
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